The Little Hufflepuff and the Big Bad Slytherin
by NEZUMIso-soup
Summary: Tino remembers a time when Ivan was his friend, protegée, even, as he sits in the Room of Requirement with a hurt wrist and a bruise in his face. Can Ivan and Tino ever become friends again? Will Tino's friends even let him try? Guest: Giant Squid.Later.
1. Bruise

The room was so messy only multiple generations of magically gifted teenagers could accomplish together over the one thousand years that Hogwarts had existed. Tino Väinamöinen had visited the Room of Hidden Things (or Room of Requirement), multiple times since he started attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The Finn found comfort in the mess; he could hide his secrets, find all kinds of amazing objects, or, as was currently the case, hide.  
>Squeezed in between a stack of dusty books that was piled up almost to the roof, a pile of slightly smelly, old sets of uniforms that were torn, or burnt or otherwise unfit for wearing and a wardrobe (contents unknown; the key was missing), Tino gingerly massaged his wrist and carefully examined his face with his fingertips, and winced; partly from pain, but mostly because he realized that he had a bruise about the size of a small apple. The wrist he could've his easily kept secret from his friends, but the bruise was clearly visible, and Tino didn't feel confident enough to aim a spell at his face. Contrary to what people might assume, healing spells weren't his forte, offensive spells suited him better.<p>

_How can I explain this to them..?_ Tino had usually blamed suspicious injuries on Quidditch, he was a most excellent Beater, and took pride in his fine aim; in fact, his nickname was 'Sniper'. He'd earned it after pulling off a particularly memorable shot, hitting the Gryffindor Seeker Alfred F. Jones square in the face, leading to a swift victory for Tino's own team, Hufflepuff, as their seeker and Alfred's half-brother, Matthew Williams, snatched the snitch right in front of Alfred's flattened nose. Tino smiled a little at this memory, it had been nice to win, of course, but seeing Matthew's face as he realized he had beaten his brother at something had been even nicer; the guy had practically always walked in the shadow of the obnoxious American.

This being said, the injuries rarely came from Qudditch. The reason was something else entirely, or rather, some_one_ else. This someone was probably the tallest student in the entire school (quite possibly the tallest person overall, too), a Russian called Ivan Braginski. Tino's stomach lurched, and he felt like he was going to be sick when he recalled the face the Russian had made. The face had only been half-visible behind a pink scarf, the mouth hadn't been visible at all, but the eyebrows had been tightly knitted into a frown, and the eyes had been colder than the ice covering the lake outside. The hand that had been slowly crushing his wrist and slapped him hard in the face had been even colder, and the voice had been near absolute zero.

"_Why are you avoiding me, Tino?"_

A shiver went down his spine as he remembered, and he covered his face behind his knees. The worst thing was that in the beginning, they had been _friends. _Ivan had _depended _on Tino's kindness and on Tino asking his friends to help Ivan when Tino couldn't help by himself. Ivan had been bullied not only by people in the other Houses – because he was a Slytherin, because his nose was big, because of his Russian accent – but by people in his _own_ House too. Tino had talked a bit with the Ivan on the Hogwarts Express their first year, so his opinion hadn't been biased, and they were both foreigners in UK. Ivan had clung to Tino like a drowning person clings to a lifebuoy. And the Room of Requirement was where Tino had often hidden the Russian, although not the Room of Hidden Things, when he had been with Ivan, the room always looked like a regular kitchen - well, regular from his point of view. Yellow linoleum floor with a pattern that was supposed to make it look like stone, or perhaps marble, several small rugs, simple wooden furniture and a space to make food, a refrigerator and Marimekko curtains hanging in front of fake windows (fake windows wasn't _normal_, of course, but they looked normal).

But that was five years ago. Over the summer, Ivan had changed dramatically. The huge, innocent eyes that had once been filled with fear for the bullies and adoration for Tino were now filled with defiance and contempt. The bullied had become a bully. Tino had no idea what had started this, you don't just do a 180 like that for no reason.

His friends, Berwald, Sigurður, Mathias and Bjørn, had started to suspect the real reason for his mysterious injuries, mostly because Ivan no longer followed him everywhere, and because Ivan had also started bullying others, it was one of those public secrets. Tino, however, refused to admit to them that Ivan was the cause; he still wanted to be friends with Ivan. _Do I really? _Tino asked himself suddenly. _Did_ he really want to be friends with someone so violent? The bruise on his face throbbed with pain, reminding him what Ivan had done.

Tino glanced on his watch. The next lesson would begin soon; he'd need to hurry to Madam Pomfrey if he wanted to get rid of the bruise on his face before anyone saw it… _Ivan shouldn't be anywhere nearby anymore…_

* * *

><p>Ivan wasn't around, and the hallways were empty, save for a couple, but they were too busy with each other to notice Tino as he tiptoed his way past. Tino envied them; they seemed to lead a simpler life.<p>

Madam Pomfrey sighed exasperatedly as Tino came into the infirmary, he'd come in twice already that week.

"How do you manage?" She asked, grabbed her wand and prodded him a little harder than necessary on his wrist while muttering a healing spell. "I told you to be more careful when training!" Tino had served the nurse the same lie he had served his friends, though he suspected Pomfrey knew, or at least guessed, the real reason herself. She was more delicate when she erased every trace of the bruise from his face, you can't prod people too hard in the face after all.

"I do _try,_" Tino said with a nervous grin. "Thank you." In a mirror Tino could see that his face looked like normal again, and his wrist was as good as new.

"Get going, or you'll miss the next lesson," Pomfrey said gruffly, but she didn't seem mad at him. Tino smiled gratefully, and left the room.

_I had so much trouble remembering 'lifebouy' in English (thank God for Wikipedia! XD). It seems you also can say 'lifering', but I thought that'd be a bit too dramatic. ^-^;; Next time will be from Denmark's point of view! :D Or, that's what I'm planning, at least... ._._


	2. Mathias

_Since I actually got someone who added this story to their alerts, I decided I should kick myself into gear and write the second chapter already! This chapter is dedicated toBlue-Starlight92 and fluteprincess95!_

_**Warning! **__This chapter describes the Hufflepuff common room as it will (might?) appear in Pottermore (according to the Harry Potter Wikia), if you do not wish to have that part spoiled, do not read on! Also, beware of strong language!_

* * *

><p>"<em>Tino!<em> Hey, wake up, man!" Mathias Køhler, upon having failed to wake his friend up through hushed talking, proceeded to kick said friend's leg under the table.

"_Ouch!_ What the hell, Mathias?" Tino jolted awake, and Mathias quickly hushed the flustered Finn.

"We're in class, remember?" he hissed, grinning. Usually he was the one falling asleep during lessons, not Tino. And especially not during Defence against the Dark Arts. "We covered for you until just now," Mathias nodded towards Bjørn, the Norwegian was already getting on with the next assignment, waving his wand without moving his mouth, he had long since mastered silent incantations, "But we really can't cover for you on the practical parts, y'know?"

Tino nodded stupidly, still not entirely awake, it appeared.

"What are we supposed to be doing?" he yawned.

Mathias drew a blank.

"We're supposed to… to… uh…" In the corner of his eye, Mathias could see Tino smile as the Dane turned to Bjørn. The Norwegian sighed, and turned his book around so the other two could see.

"According to this passage," Bjørn said in heavily accented English, "The Expelliarmus spell can be countered with another Expelliarmus spell as long as you stay focused. We're supposed to test this theory."

It took most of the time left for Tino to finally unarm Bjørn of his wand, and Mathias only succeeded after quickly taking advantage of Tino's inattention as the bell rang. Tino claimed that this didn't count, as he, effectively, did not try to counter, and therefore Mathias hadn't actually cleared the assignment. Mathias replied by taking Tino into a headlock and tousling the Finn's hair.

* * *

><p><em>I can't believe this! How could Professor Vargas give us so much homework? Not only do we have to train on our Expelliarmus, we also have to read one hundred pages <em>_and__ summarize them! _Mathias was fuming at this inconsiderate act of Professor Augustus Vargas, did he not know that Mathias had a lot of important things to do (that most certainly _not _included homework)?  
>When Mathias was angry, people tended to step aside, so he could make his way towards the Gryffindor tower without being bothered by any hinders, until he reached one of his usual shortcut-doors, which for some reason or another <em>refused<em> to open, no matter how hard Mathias pulled the handle.  
>Seriously annoyed now, he turned around and stomped away. He'd have to walk longer, and he'd lose even <em>more<em> precious free time!  
>Swinging a portrait aside (the resident, a plush man with an even plusher moustache, hollering swearwords at him), another secret passage was revealed, and he quickly jumped in behind the portrait swinging shut and hurried forward, there were steps behind him, and he didn't feel like sharing this shortcut. Thus, he was not as careful as he should have been, and ended up bumping into someone. It was dark, so Mathias couldn't see who it was, but when the person snapped around and hissed: "Who's there?", he knew it was Bjørn, he'd recognise that voice anywhere.<p>

"What are you doing here?" Mathias whispered. Bjørn shouldn't have anything to do in this corner of the castle.

"Mathias?" Sigurdur lowered his wand, and with a silent 'Lumos', lit it instead. The Norwegian seemed bothered by Mathias' presence; a small frown knitted his eyebrows together. "I… followed Tino." _Ah, right. Tino has Muggle Studies here, _Mathias recalled.

The Norwegian sighed as Mathias didn't really react.

"Don't play dumb, you have also noticed it. Tino is afraid of something, and refuses to tell us. I just found out why."

"Huh? You did?" Mathias ignored Bjørn's protests and simply lifted him out of the way so he could look through a hole in the painting sealing the exit of the passage. Squinting, he could make out Tino's figure almost too far to the left to be seen through the tiny hole, and, to Mathias' great dismay, Ivan Braginski, pinning the petit Finn against the wall, seeming to whisper something in his ear. Judging by Tino's face, it wasn't something nice.  
>Mathias' felt rage bubble up inside him, how <em>dare<em> someone treat his friend like that!  
>Before Mathias' even realised that he'd lifted his wand, Bjørn had disarmed him. Seeing as Mathias couldn't move, Bjørn had also petrified him.<p>

"Don't do anything stupid, Mathias!" Bjørn growled. "If you go there now, Braginski will surely hurt both Tino and you! We have to wait until it's over, and then confront Tino. I suggest we do it after dinner, that way we don't have to risk Tino getting hurt immediately. It's what we usually do, anyway, so no one will think twice of it if we meet all five of us."

Mathias couldn't answer, but if he could have, he would have said "Hell no!" and run off to save Tino.

* * *

><p>Tino pulled the blanket tighter around him, and watched as Toris Larinautis watered the numerous plants placed around the Hufflepuff common room.<p>

"Sorry," he said to the brown-haired boy's back, "I would help you, but I seem to have an unnatural trait that kills all plants I try to take care of." Toris did not halt in his task, but Tino could hear the smile in his voice as he answered.

"I know, Tino. I think the others would get mad at me if I let you touch the plants. And besides, I enjoy it."

Tino nodded, and watched as Toris moved from one plant to another, stepping on a round stool to reach the plants that hung high up on the wall. Most things in the common room were round, even the doors, fireplace and the small windows that let in the very last of the winter light were round (when it started snowing really hard they'd be completely blocked, though). It looked a bit funny when you first came there, but it was undoubtedly cozy, and from what he had heard from the others about the Gryffindor, Ravenclaw and Slytherin common rooms, it was probably the nicest.

Tino and Toris both jumped as the portrait of Helga Hufflepuff hanging over the fireplace started giggling.

"What is it?" the boys asked in one mouth.

"A blond boy just got covered in vinegar!" The portrait giggled delightedly. "Ooh, he's swearing in the most interesting language I've heard in a long time!"

"Is he a tall Gryffindor?" Tino asked quickly, and Helga Hufflepuff nodded, still giggling. Toris looked over at Tino.

"Would that be Mathias?" the Lithuanian asked.

Tino nodded. "Probably. I'll go out and see."

It was Mathias, and he was indeed covered in vinegar and swearing in Danish. Tino crawled out of the barrel hiding the tunnel down to the portrait covering the common room door, and Mathias cried out in surprise.

"I opened that very barrel! Why did it spit vinegar on me?"

"There's more to the Hufflepuff defense than just opening the right barrel," Tino rolled his eyes at the Dane, and climbed over the rows of barrels to stand in front of him. "Why are you here? I would have gone to the Great Hall in just a minute."

The wonderful smell of food came from further up the corridor, hinting at what would be served for dinner.

"I needed to talk to you." The Dane looked unusually serious, and Tino immediately turned suspicious.

"If you've argued with Berwald again I'm not playing mediator." The last time Mathias and Berwald had argued they had refused to speak to each other, and if they had to communicate they'd used Bjørn, Sigurður and Tino to convey messages between them. Hogwarts had never seen the three boys so pissed off. Bjørn had been especially frightening.

"It's not about Berwald." Mathias seemed to try to find a way to phrase whatever he was about to say delicately (it was obviously a delicate issue). At last he blurted out a "Why haven't you told us Ivan's bullying you?"

Tino's stomach sank, and he could feel all colour leave his face. "I'm not being bullied," he tried to lie, but Mathias didn't believe him, didn't even hesitate.

"I saw him, Tino! He pushed you up against a wall, and that only happens for two reasons: Either he's madly in love with you (Tino scoffed) or he's friggin' bullying you! And you didn't exactly look thrilled, so we, _correctly_, assumed that it's option number two."

_We?Who else knew? Berwald? __Bjørn? _Sigurður_?_

"Well, _congratulations!"_ Tino spat, enjoying Mathias' shocked look. "What else have you detectives found out by now? I'm sure you know my 'Qudditch injuries' weren't caused by Quidditch, that was Ivan. Oh, and all my 'forgotten' homeworks, that was Ivan too! And all the times I fell asleep in class was because I was up worrying about Ivan!" _Not to mention the times I was worried __**for **__Ivan!_

Mathias was staring, mouth open, at Tino. He _had _noticed that something was wrong, but he had never anticipated it to have gone to this extent.

"Tino -!"

"Don't touch me!" The Finn raised his wand against the Dane, who backed off. Tino quickly dived back into the barrel and headed straight for the dormitory.

* * *

><p>"…Tino?"<p>

Toris carefully knocked on the door leading to the dormitory they shared with Matthew, Raivis and Kou. When he got no answer, he slowly opened the (round) door. Tino lay in his bed with the covers pulled over his head. Toris carefully approached the bed.

"Tino? Are you awake?"

"…Mhmm."

"I brought you some food." All the Hufflepuff students visited the kitchen every now and then, especially during exam-times, when they didn't have enough time to eat, sleep and study. Usually, the Hufflepuffs ditched sleep, but didn't waste time to go up to the Great Hall when the kitchen was just a few doors up the corridor.  
>Tino's head emerged from underneath the covers. He looked really pitiful, with red eyes under swollen eyelids and hair that stood on all ends. "Thank you," the Finn mumbled, and gratefully took the soup the House Elves had made for him.<p>

"Don't mention it." Really, the only one to not have broken down crying in their dorm room was Kou, who always seemed to keep his cool, or throw sarcastic remarks at the offenders, making _them _cry. And Tino was always there for the Hufflepuffs (and students of other Houses too, if they cared for it), so Toris was glad he could at least help Tino with this. "What happened..?" Toris asked carefully.

Tino gave him a pained smile. "Mathias found out about Ivan."

Toris hesitated. "And that isn't good..?"

Tino shook his head. "Have you ever known Mathias to keep a secret to himself?"

Toris chuckled, and Tino managed a feeble smile.

* * *

><p>"Wh're's T'no?" Berwald asked Bjørn. They were both in Ravenclaw, and therefore sat at the same table in the Great Hall. And Berwald couldn't see Tino at his usual place at the Hufflepuff table. Bjørn weighed his options.<p>

"Berwald, did you know Tino was being bullied?"

Berwald immediately spun around to face the Norwegian, and switched language.

"Är det sant?"

Bjørn answered in Norwegian.

"Ja."

Some second years were frightened by Berwald's change in facial expression from intense to angry. Bjørn had expected it, though, so he took it in stride.

"Vem?" Berwald growled.

"Ryssen."

Berwald looked around the room, but saw no trace of the otherwise unmistakable character.

"Hur fan kunde jag inte märka det?"

"Jeg la heller ikke merke till noe. Det var Sigurður."

Sigurður sat further down the table with the friends from his year, but kept looking up at his brother and his friend. Bjørn nodded at him, and Sigurður smiled a sad smile.

* * *

><p><em>Whoo, a long chapter! (five pages in Word!) I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it! Reviews would be much appreciated! Oh, and I'm not truncating Berwald's speech in Swedish, in my headcannon he he speaks Swedish perfectly fine.<em>

**TranslationS:**

"Är det sant?" _– Is it true?_  
>"Ja." –<em> Yes.<em>  
>"Vem?" –<em> Who?<em>  
>"Ryssen." – <em>The Russian.<em>  
>"Hur fan kunde jag inte märka det?" <em>– How the hell couldn't I notice?<em>  
>"Jeg la heller ikke merke till noe. Det var Sigurður." – <em>I didn't notice anything either. It was Sigurður.<em>


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